A work apparatus having an electric motor is known from U.S. Pat. No. 7,658,237. It is proposed herein to actuate one or more switching elements in a specific way within a specific time window in order to increase the operational safety of a power tool. In particular, a plurality of elastic touch surfaces are provided on the housing of the power tool and have to be actuated, for example, simultaneously or in a specific fashion one after the other in order to operate the power tool.
In practice it has become apparent that a plurality of switching elements which are provided for activating a power tool sometimes considerably disrupt the work flow; furthermore, given the arrangement of a plurality of switching elements there is an increased susceptibility to faults.